An airborne chariot glided through the night sky as it flew the short trip from Ponyville back to Canterlot. Luna’s way of travel this first Nightmare Night after her return had been quite eye-catching, and she now relaxed after a simply wondrous night. Sure, things did not turn out exactly how she expected them to and she learned quite a few surprising things about her little ponies, but thanks to Twilight Sparkle and her friends it had all turned out well. Luna would have to think of a way to thank Twilight and Fluttershy especially for all their help.
For now though it was time to return to the castle and get ready for her duties as guardian of the dream world. Her two escorts were making quite good time in flying them back. The castle was already in view and in just another minute she would be landing atop the high towers of Canterlot Castle.
“Are thou both doing alright?” Luna asked the ponies flying her chariot.
“Just fine, Princess Luna!” The guard on the right said.
“We’ll have you back to the castle in a jiffy!” The one on the left said.
“Excellent, but please don’t tire yourselves out on account of me, I know it has been a long night for you,” Luna smiled accommodatingly at them.
“No problem, Princess!” They both saluted her.
Luna sat up straighter in her seat as she watched them bring her down to the tower. “My sister has done an excellent job of raising quality guards while I’ve been away. The two of you have done your job admirably tonight. And I must thank you for acquiescing to my request as well, as odd as it may have seemed.”
The wheels of the chariot landed on the open balcony of the tower, this part of it designed specifically for this purpose, which is why it was wide enough to suit the landing of a chariot in the first place. The two guards threw off their harnesses and Luna stepped off the carriage with an easy smile on her face.
“Thank you, the two of you are dismissed for the night,” Luna said and began to walk past them.
“Um, Princess?” One of them said.
Luna looked over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. “Yes?”
Both guards pointed up to their faces.
“Oh! My apologies! How could I forget?” Luna said as she walked back to the two of them, her horn lighting up with a dim glow.
“No need to apologize, Princess,” the left guard said.
“Obviously you have a lot to think about,” the right one said.
“But I had just mentioned my request to have you dress up as part of this masquerade called Nightmare Night, the folly was mine to forget that your costumes are more complex than simple clothes,” Luna said and aimed her horn low at the two guards. A wide beam came out and washed over their features, they glowed bright white for a second and when it ended their bodies had changed. “There, the illusion spell is undone. A small glamour aided by physical accouterments.”
Before her stood two ordinary white pegasi. Royal guards like any others. The only difference right now was the somewhat ornate and unusual armor they wore, and the contact lenses in their eyes the two were now popping out. But things like their coat color, the longer frayed ears, and the bat like wings on their sides had all disappeared.
“It was a great costume idea, Princess Luna,” Radiant Sky said to her.
Falling Sword nodded in agreement. “I think the ponies in Ponyville were really impressed when seeing us.”
“And then when your cape turned into bats when we landed? It all looked so cool together, bats and bat ponies!” Radiant Sky grinned.
“Thank you, your words of appreciation fill me with great joy,” Princess Luna minutely nodded to the two guards.
“Where did you get the idea for bat ponies anyways? And where’d this armor come from?” Falling Sword asked as he started to shuck the armor off.
“Well I had been thinking of a way to make an impressive entrance that my subjects would be awed by and hopefully would make them happy to see me. It… didn’t quite work out that way but I’m still happy with how your costumes turned out,” Luna said. “The armor was provided by my dear sister when I broached the idea to her. She said something about retrieving them from a “Bargain Bin”, obviously some sort of location or item of great power.”
Radiant Sky and Falling Sword shared a glance with each other. “Riiiight...”
Falling Sword then coughed, swiftly attempting to bring the conversation back on track. “So, bats?”
“Indeed, bats,” Luna nodded. “I had pondered on a creature of the night that could represent me well. And since bats also flew they were clearly the best choice. So thus your garb and identities as “bat ponies” was born. A hit if I do say so myself.”
“Yeah it goes along with you really well, makes sense that Princess Luna would have her own nocturnal guards and attendants right?” Radiant Sky said.
“Heh,” Falling Sword grinned. “How many of the ponies in Ponyville do you think thought we were actual bat ponies?”
“Hah!” Radiant Sky had to laugh. “Come on, the costumes were great but obviously no one thought that’s what we really looked like. How could they?”
“We weren’t just wearing costumes though, the magic really altered our forms in their eyes. Nopony else in town was doing something like that,” Falling Sword pointed out.
“Hmm, did I perhaps go too far then?” Luna mused.
“Oh no, no, no, your highness,” Falling Sword quickly shook his head and apologized. “I didn’t mean to suggest anything like that.”
“Yeah, the costumes were perfect!” Radiant Sky smiled.
“I am glad to hear that. Again I must express how ignorant I am of society now after only returning so soon ago,” Luna sighed.
“You’ve done a great job, Princess,” Falling Sword said.
“Yeah. And no need to worry about causing any misunderstandings. Nopony has ever heard of or seen anything called a bat pony before this. Even if we looked real they’d just have to think for a second before realizing it was all a costume or trick. Otherwise, what? It means there was a whole tribe of pony and bat hybrids living somewhere in Equestria that nopony knew about and they only came out when you returned from the moon?” Radiant Sky slapped his knee. “Hah, that’s a little much. Or maybe they think you made them somehow or you called out to all the creatures of the night that Princess Celestia has kept hidden away for a thousand years and regular ponies are—snkt—kept in the dark about it.”
“An amusing thought,” Princess Luna smiled in good humor at Radiant’s creative musings.
“What if next year we didn’t even dress up as bat ponies again?” Falling Sword said. “And Princess Luna just went to Ponyville by herself? It would be funny if anypony asked her about her bat pony companions. If they were never seen again after this Nightmare Night maybe some gullible ponies will think they’ve even gone back into hiding or something?”
“Well Nightmare Night does seem to be a night of good humored pranks and games as well as scares in some ways, perhaps this ruse is something to keep in mind for next year,” Luna considered.
“The legend of the mysterious bat ponies,” Radiant Sky laughed.
“Quite so,” Luna chuckled along. “But now I fear the night has gotten late, and the moon will need to both lower in the sky soon and also will I need to attend to the dream world. Can I count on the two of you to have the chariot and costume attire taken care of?”
“Of course!” Both saluted at once.
“Being night shift guards, we’re both still wide awake,” Falling Sword said.
“Then I bid you farewell and I hope the rest of this year’s Nightmare Night is favorable to you,” Luna nodded and turned, walking into the tower and heading towards the stairs that would take her farther into the castle. This time there was nothing that caused her to halt.
Falling Sword turned to Radiant Sky with a grin. “Well this has been way more fun than I ever expected.”
“I know, right? I’m glad Princess Celestia suggested the two of us when Princess Luna asked for two guards who could accompany her to Ponyville,” Radiant Sky said. “Well, let’s get this chariot back where it should go.”
“Mhm,” Falling Sword said as he and Radiant Sky went to take care of the chariot. However, the events of the night couldn’t help but make him think. “Bat ponies, huh?”
“What do you mean?” Radiant Sky raised an eyebrow.
“Well, it’s funny to think how many ponies we might have confused tonight.”
“Still thinking that we might’ve caused some of them to think that bat ponies are real?”
“Yeah, and I was thinking, not in a mean way or anything, but isn’t it kind of fun to think about? Like what if rumors about bat ponies spread and some anthropologist tries to research them?”
Radiant Sky chuckled. “That’d be a laugh.”
“Right? But it also got me thinking that “Bat Ponies” is kind of a plain name isn’t it? I mean come on, we can totally come up with something cooler than that? Like if we’re going to be a whole tribe or something isn’t it kind of lame to just make it sound like we’re some kind of random breed of pony? Pegasi like us aren’t called just “Wing Ponies” after all.”
“Okay, so what would you call bat ponies?”
“Uhhh… how about something like Thestrals? Or Sarosians?”
“Now you’re just making up words.”
Author's Note
I don't think I ever really understood the popularity of bat ponies.
